CHARLOTTE, N.C. – The Queens University of Charlotte swimming programs continued their strong start to the season with an emphatic dual meet sweep over Catawba College on Saturday afternoon at the Levine Aquatic Center. The Royals women earned a 174-82 victory, while the men captured a 167-81 win behind five new pool records and numerous podium finishes.
"Both the men's and women's teams came ready to race today," Director of Swimming Jeff Dugdale said. "The men opened the meet by setting a new pool record in the 200-yard medley relay, Freshman Leonie Tenzer followed with a standout performance in the 1,000-yard freestyle to break the pool record and post a personal best. The momentum continued as both the men's and women's 400-yard freestyle relays capped off the meet by setting additional pool records. Maddie Foster also clocked a pool record as well in the 100 fly. The Royals fed off each other's energy all day, building momentum and working together to deliver a strong collective performance."
Queens opened the meet with its first pool record of the day as the men's 200-yard medley relay team of Pablo Ortega Navarro, Cal Bartone, Emil Harlem, and Nien Levy touched first in 1:26.12, surpassing the 1:27.96 mark previously held by Virginia Tech since 2023. The women's quartet of Maren Patterson, Libby Livesay, Maddie Foster, and Sabina Kupcova also grabbed gold in 1:40.40.
In the distance events, Leonie Tenzer broke a pool record in the 1000-yard freestyle, clocking 9:56.51 to surpass the previous mark of 10:02.66 set by recent Queens assistant coach and graduate Francesca Bains in 2020. On the men's side, Akos Horvath won the 1000 in 9:22.76, with Jack Vanvalkenburg placing third (9:27.21).
Foster and Kupcova led a 1-2 finish in the 200 freestyle, while Daniel Meszaros and TJ Spokas went 1-3 for the men.
Queens swept the podium in both 100-yard backstroke events — Patterson, Haley Ross, and Zoey Prezyna went 1-2-3 for the women, while Ortega Navarro, Eli Brinkman, and Caden Fritz did the same for the men.
The Royals again filled the top three in the 100 breaststroke, with Huber, Livesay, and Cornelia Almqvist finishing 1-2-3 for the women, and Bartone, Milan Samoczi, and Matheus Przewalla doing so for the men.
In the 200 butterfly, Abigail Zboran earned the win (2:00.65) and Mary Shanahan placed third, while Nick Karaivanov, Keegan McKenney, and Matt Shanahan swept the men's podium.
Patterson claimed gold in the 50 freestyle (23.11), with Livesay third. The men's sprint trio of Stamatis Paleocrassas (19.69), Levy (19.84), and Meszaros (19.98) went 1-2-3.
Foster later earned her second win of the meet and a third pool record with a 53.92 in the 100-yard butterfly, eclipsing alum Kayla Tennant's 2020 record of 54.37. She also won the 100 freestyle in 50.23.
Ross added another first-place finish in the 200 backstroke (1:58.54), with Prezyna taking second. Ortega Navarro captured the men's title (1:48.09).
Huber picked up a win in the 200 breaststroke (2:18.46), while Samoczi won the men's race (1:59.87). Tenzer claimed her second distance victory in the 500 freestyle (4:51.55), and Zboran added her second win of the day in the 400 IM (4:22.90).
Queens closed the meet with two more pool records in the 400-yard freestyle relays. The women's team of Patterson, Kupcova, Bianca Wettel, and Zboran broke Duke University's 2020 record (3:24.36) with a 3:22.25, while the men's quartet of Stamatis Paleocrassas, Meszaros, Spokas, and Levy broke Carson-Newman's 2020 mark (2:59.35) with a 2:56.41.
UP NEXT
Queens will be back in action at the annual Queens Fall Frenzy in November.
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